Actor Matthew Arkin is not obese, but he effectively portrays a 600-pound man with the help of makeup, prosthetic neck and cheeks and advice from a once dangerously overweight actor.The morbidly obese protagonist of "The Whale," the latest play by Samuel Hunter running at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, weighs close to 600 pounds, scarfs meatball subs and hasn't left his dingy apartment for months.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:15AM on March 17, 2013